China
Although I am nowhere NEAR fluent in Chinese (I can't read baby books let alone had a real coherent conversation in class), it's times like last night when I really feel like this is 115% worth it. I went to the Great Wall yesterday at SiMaTai and was literally one of the greatest experiences of my life. We got up at 2:40am and left at 3am to see the sunrise. We missed the entrance to the Great Wall and accidently took a path through plants/the forest steeply up to a ladder going into a window which let us onto the Wall.
Being one of the Seven Wonders of the World really isn't an exaggeration. I cannot BELIEVE something so AMAZING was built so long ago and still exists. We were the only people there. There were about 15 guard towers, and they prevented you going past the 12th because it was too dangerous, and a few of us did anyway. Jesus Christ it was terrifying and amazing. Steep slipper narrow breaking/chipped steps, with nothing on your sides to protect you from the impossibly long fall down into the trees. I'm adventerous/stupid/awesome. I wimped out at a pass that the "steps" were at maybe an 75 or 80 degree angle, and it went up for what looked like at least 250feet.
Let me just say, wow.
Great Wall, 4am. Lights are flashlights of people ahead of us.
View through an arrow slot in the Great Wall.
So after 5 and a half hour of hiking, we got back around 8:30am. Tourists were just starting to go to the wall, and we had just survived the pitch black, rain, sunrise, rain, fog, etc. It was the best way to ever see it, let me tell you. AFter our 4+ hour bus ride back, me and my friend Jake went to SunLiTun YaXiu market. It took us about an hour and a half to get there with public transportation because we and no idea where the hell we were going, but it was SUCH A FUN MARKET. So many things, OMG. Suits, silk, jewelry, musical intstruments, clothes, electronics, random tourist stuff- it was SO AWESOME. AND... we tried bargaining/talking to people in Chinese. They would speak in English, "you want T-shirt?" and we'd say in Chinese, "No thank you, we're just looking, we don't want a t-shirt. Thank you."
And the cab ride home? Perfect time to practice Chinese.
Me: Do you like sports?
Cab Driver: Hahaha, yeah I really like ping pong.
Me: Do you often play ping pong? Do your friends play it too?
Cab Driver: >something hard to understand, general gist was> Yes it's fun! It's a really fast game.
Me: I am so bad at ping pong. I play really slowly. You would play a lot better than me!
Cab Driver: Laughs
Later...
Me: So in America we don't often drink tea because waiters at restaurants give us cold water and not tea, but since coming to China I often drink tea! Tea is delicious!
Cab Driver: Hahaha. Tea is very good.
Me: I like green tea. I also like Chinese food. Do you like to cook?
Cab Driver: I like to cook but don't have that much time to cook.
Me: When Jake and I arrived at the airport, his stomach was really hurting him.
Cab Driver: Ohhh.
Jake: Yeah the plane food is really good.
>>everyone laughs>>
Apparently they get sarcasm here.
Being one of the Seven Wonders of the World really isn't an exaggeration. I cannot BELIEVE something so AMAZING was built so long ago and still exists. We were the only people there. There were about 15 guard towers, and they prevented you going past the 12th because it was too dangerous, and a few of us did anyway. Jesus Christ it was terrifying and amazing. Steep slipper narrow breaking/chipped steps, with nothing on your sides to protect you from the impossibly long fall down into the trees. I'm adventerous/stupid/awesome. I wimped out at a pass that the "steps" were at maybe an 75 or 80 degree angle, and it went up for what looked like at least 250feet.
Let me just say, wow.
Great Wall, 4am. Lights are flashlights of people ahead of us.
View through an arrow slot in the Great Wall.
So after 5 and a half hour of hiking, we got back around 8:30am. Tourists were just starting to go to the wall, and we had just survived the pitch black, rain, sunrise, rain, fog, etc. It was the best way to ever see it, let me tell you. AFter our 4+ hour bus ride back, me and my friend Jake went to SunLiTun YaXiu market. It took us about an hour and a half to get there with public transportation because we and no idea where the hell we were going, but it was SUCH A FUN MARKET. So many things, OMG. Suits, silk, jewelry, musical intstruments, clothes, electronics, random tourist stuff- it was SO AWESOME. AND... we tried bargaining/talking to people in Chinese. They would speak in English, "you want T-shirt?" and we'd say in Chinese, "No thank you, we're just looking, we don't want a t-shirt. Thank you."
And the cab ride home? Perfect time to practice Chinese.
Me: Do you like sports?
Cab Driver: Hahaha, yeah I really like ping pong.
Me: Do you often play ping pong? Do your friends play it too?
Cab Driver: >something hard to understand, general gist was> Yes it's fun! It's a really fast game.
Me: I am so bad at ping pong. I play really slowly. You would play a lot better than me!
Cab Driver: Laughs
Later...
Me: So in America we don't often drink tea because waiters at restaurants give us cold water and not tea, but since coming to China I often drink tea! Tea is delicious!
Cab Driver: Hahaha. Tea is very good.
Me: I like green tea. I also like Chinese food. Do you like to cook?
Cab Driver: I like to cook but don't have that much time to cook.
Me: When Jake and I arrived at the airport, his stomach was really hurting him.
Cab Driver: Ohhh.
Jake: Yeah the plane food is really good.
>>everyone laughs>>
Apparently they get sarcasm here.